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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28733580">Not All Those Who Wander are Lost</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QwillReign/pseuds/QwillReign'>QwillReign</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Riddle of the Castle [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Septimus Heap - Angie Sage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Platonic Soulmates, Pre-Book One: Magyk, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:42:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28733580</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QwillReign/pseuds/QwillReign</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Septimus Heap was dead, wasn't he?<br/>Apparently not, at least according to the writing on Beetle's arm.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jenna Heap &amp; Mandy Marwick, Jenna Heap &amp; Septimus Heap, Jenna Heap &amp; Septimus Heap &amp; O. Beetle Beetle &amp; Mandy Marwick, O. Beetle Beetle &amp; Jenna Heap, O. Beetle Beetle &amp; Mandy Marwick, O. Beetle Beetle &amp; Septimus Heap, Septimus Heap &amp; Mandy Marwick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Riddle of the Castle [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lost and Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soulmates went, Jenna Heap wasn’t wholly unusual. She had her family circle, just like everyone else. She had a few others as well. There was someone named O. Beetle Beetle, which, while admittedly an odd name, was still not unheard of. Then there was someone named Mandy. This was a worse name than even Beetle. </p><p>Two things were strange, however. Jenna had a circle overlap. Normally, you had your family circle, and your other soulmates (or more often, soulmate) were separate. But for Jenna, one name appeared twice, in a messy, sad scrawl. This was one Septimus Heap. Jenna’s twin brother. </p><p>The problem was, Septimus was dead. Their soulmate circle would never be complete. She had always felt as if something was missing, but had no idea what until her teacher had taught her class about soulmates when they were seven. </p><p>Apparently, your soulmates were people who you would fit with who would challenge and complement your personality completely. They were supposed to be people you could rely on, who you could trust. According to Mr. Gardener, a soulmate was not romantic, as many people might have assumed. It was simply that, and Jenna vividly remembered the cheeky grin on his face, it was simply that, best friends tended to fall in love. </p><p>Mr. Gardener had said that a dead soulmate, or one who had rejected their soulmates, would leave a hollow feeling in the heart of those they should have loved. This explained Jenna’s feelings perfectly. Septimus was dead, her twin would never love her again.</p><p> </p><p>In reality, Septimus was just on the other side of the Castle. He was lonely, except for 409, and he did not know his name. The young army had taught all the boys to hate the names on their arms, and they only ever wore long sleeve shirts, so as to hide the messages that came through. </p><p>Septimus was, at the moment, only known as 412. It did not escape 412 and 409s notice that they shared writing, as well as a nearly full circle of names. They banded together in ignoring their names, ignoring the words that appeared on their arms and hands. They ignored those words determinedly until the day they stopped. </p><p>That was the day 409 had fallen off the boat. 412 was lost. Without his only friend, he had no reason to be happy. </p><p>412 begged to go rescue 409. He needed his friend, he realized, and he felt strangely empty without him. But when the Chief Cadet threatened to throw 412 off, he gave up. He told himself that 409 wouldn’t want that. He let his best friend drown. </p><p>But one day, weeks later, when 412 felt the familiar tingling of words coming, he looked at them. He was so lonely that he forgot to ignore them, longing for a scrap of comfort, to feel like he wasn’t alone. </p><p>The message read “I’m okay - 409” </p><p>He couldn’t breathe. The pressure in his lungs was unbearable. Still staring down at his hand, 412 forced himself to take a deep breath. He scrambled the remains of the fire from last night’s do or die exercise. He was on watch, so there was no-one awake to see him hurriedly grab a piece of charcoal. </p><p>Slowly, in big, clumsy letters on his arm, 412 wrote back. He sent a message to 409, a short one, just a few words. It was all he could fit, because he had never actually written before. “I’m ok too - stay safe - 412”<br/>
O. Beetle woke up in the middle of the night, his right arm tingling with words. This was odd. It was unlike Jenna to be writing in the middle of the night, she was younger than him, and never got up until she absolutely had to. And if his mother had wanted to tell him something, she could have woken him herself. Septimus and Beetle’s father were dead, which left the elusive Mandy Marwick, who had not written them even once. He moved towards the embers of the last night’s fire to read the words. </p><p>Beetle startled at the words on his palm. They were from a young army boy. That certainly did explain a lot. </p><p>Then, he rolled up his sleeve. There were more words, by an obviously different hand. This should have been impossible. Beetle didn’t have any more soulmates! There was no way he could have two new people writing on his skin. Then he noticed the hollow feeling he had always carried in him lessening a great deal. It felt like the acception of two soulmates, not just one. What if Septimus wasn’t dead?<br/>
Beetle was quick to write back. When Jenna woke up she would have the words on her arm no matter what, so it would probably be better to give her an explanation, instead of letting her come to her own conclusions. </p><p>After thinking carefully on what to say, Beetle wrote out a message in his plainest handwriting, as the others’ writing was messy enough to indicate they might not be able to read well. </p><p>"Hi. I’m Beetle, one of your soulmates. I’m glad we finally heard from you. Are you in the young army? Do you need help? I don’t think we can get you out, but Jenna and I could slip you supplies when you are on guard if you need. Thank you for acknowledging that we are soulmates, it feels a lot better." </p><p>While Beetle waited for a response, he wrote a private message for Jenna on his other arm. </p><p>"Jenna, I know this is a lot. One of them has to be Septimus, we only have two missing soulmates. Let’s figure this out after school at my house, ok? Don’t tell anyone yet, you don’t want to break your Mum’s heart."</p><p>He was conflicted. On the one hand, his soulmates were alive, and wanted them. On the other, this was going to tear Jenna apart. She would be ecstatic, he was sure, but when Beetle pointed out that they wouldn't be able to help them, especially Septimus, she was going to freak. </p><p>Beetle knew he wasn’t an adult, but without a father, Beetle had matured rather quickly. Besides, he was eleven, compared to Jenna, and Septimus, and possibly Marwick’s, nine years. </p><p>Either way, he had two more kids to keep track of now, and Beetle refused to lose them again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think, and pop back for Chapter Two soon!<br/>A big thank you to my wonderful beta triplefish213!</p><p>Next up: Meetings and Leavings</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Found for Good</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Years passed, and Jenna and Beetle kept quiet about their soulmates, because as Jenna had put it, “there was no need to stress Mum out over something she couldn’t change.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beetle felt like he was drifting through the day. When asked later, he couldn’t remember a single thing that he had done. It was an important day, as he had been taking his Manuscriptorium test. He had no idea how he had done. This would worry him later, but for now, Beetle’s mind was firmly focused on his soulmates. </p><p>When Beetle returned home from the (hopefully successful) test, he saw Jenna sitting at his kitchen table with his Mum. Jenna was the only Heap that she didn’t hate, probably for the sole reason that Jenna was his soulmate. Jenna sprang up to hug him, and there were obvious tear tracks on her face. With a quick “Thanks Mum,” Beetle and Jenna headed to their favorite spot in the ramblings, a little alcove near the Purple School. </p><p> </p><p>“Beetle”, Jenna whispered, “He’s alive”</p><p>He’s alive. The ache in her chest had lessened overnight, the relief was palpable. They had resigned themselves to being two of four forever, a pair that should have had a group, friends who were balanced but not exact without the others. Now Jenna knew that somehow, eventually, they would be reunited. She would meet her brother. </p><p>No new messages had appeared on either of their arms that day. The two discussed whether they could get their soulmates out of the young army, whether they could do anything at all. </p><p>They had been talking, emotions a mix of joyful and disconsolate at their soulmate’s situation, until Jenna finally had an idea they thought could work.</p><p>“Why don’t we slip them things when they are guarding? We could get Septimus and Marwick to tell us where they’ll be, and give them gloves and things. ” she paused. “They always look so cold, and there’s never more than one boy in the same place, so no one will see.”</p><p>Jenna was very proud of this idea, until Beetle pointed out that they did not have extra “gloves and things.”</p><p>Instead, Beetle suggested that they read up on soulmates more, to see what they could do. They discovered that there were ways they could Charm the words to not appear to other people. They discovered that they could send feelings down the bond, if they wired hard enough. </p><p>Beetle performed the Charm, as Jenna, in her own words, was “total rubbish at Magyk.”</p><p>Jenna screwed up her willpower, and thought of love, and family, and warmth. She sent these feelings down the bond, and she hoped they arrived intact. </p><p>But that wasn’t all the two did. After lengthy conversations with their bond-mates, mostly one-sided (well, two-sided), as neither seemed to have writing utensils besides ash and dirt, they discovered that Marwick (Mandy was an awful name, and he asked to be called Marwick instead) was actually out in the forest, and living off of nuts and berries and squirrels he had managed to catch with his bare hands. </p><p>This had an easier solution by far than the problems concerning Septimus did. No matter how much they begged, he refused to come to the castle, for fear of being caught. Jenna stole into her mother’s papers and copied out, very carefully, directions to Galen’s hut. They were all pretty happy with this solution, no matter how much it pained them to not be together. </p><p>Septimus’s situation was trickier. He was stuck, and although he later said that he had been looking for excuses to disappear on every Do-or-Die ever since, there was no escaping the young army. </p><p>Beetle hated feeling so helpless. He wanted to be able to help his soulmates, and there was barely anything that he could do.   He settled for always carrying a spare roll in his pocket, even if he had yet to see a young army boy who could be Septimus. He was pretty sure he hadn’t missed him too, because they had written out a simple hand signal in order to tell the others who they were. </p><p>Jenna had said that this was silly, as surely Septimus’s hair would be recognizable, but apparently, the Young Army boys did not have all that much hair to be recognized with. </p><p>Years passed, and Jenna and Beetle kept quiet about their soulmates, because as Jenna had put it, “there was no need to stress Mum out over something she couldn’t change.” </p><p>Until Jenna’s 11th birthday, this was true. There was nothing anyone could do to help, besides what had already been done. </p><p>But on Jenna’sBirthday, they found a boy in the snow. </p><p>In one world, this boy was angry and confused and completely loyal to the Young Army, even though they had left his best friend to die. </p><p>In this world, on this day, on this boy’s birthday, he was pulled out of the snow by a wizard. It was the Extraordinary wizard, and with her was a girl. </p><p>Perhaps at one point, the girl wouldn’t have been mentioning. Now, she was the only thing that Septimus Heap could see. (He knew his name, he loved his name, and he used his name whenever possible. It made him feel wanted). </p><p>The girl, with violet eyes and long dark hair, was pretty enough, he supposed. But that was not why he stared. Septimus stared because of the way her hand clutched the side of the tunic she wore, with the thumb on top and the first finger pointing down. That was their sign, after all. There was no way he could have missed it. He had been looking for that sign for two years, and if he had to find himself in a room with the Extraordinary, at the top of the Wizard tower no less, at least Jenna was there as well. </p><p>Jenna was his sister, his soulmate. Blearily, slowly, Septimus imitated the hand signal. He watched as Jenna’s eyes lit up, and nodded when she whispered, almost disbelievingly, “Septimus?”</p><p>“Jenna,” he breathed, smiling as if he had never smiled before. “Jenna!”</p><p>In this world, Jenna and Septimus were the best of friends from the start. They laughed and played together. When Marwick wrote to say that their family was with Galen, they laughed and smiled. When he came with Sarah to Zelda’s hut, they laughed and danced and played. </p><p>When the three returned triumphantly to the castle, Beetle was treated to a day by day recount of their adventures. He considered being jealous that Jenna had met their soulmate’s first, but got way too much enjoyment out of the interrupted, chaotic retellings to be anything more than mildly miffed. </p><p>Plus, who wouldn’t be happy with their soulmates by their side?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!<br/>Don't Forget to Kudos and Comment!</p><p>This fic is done, but our time in its world is not. Subscribe to the series to catch the next one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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